Application of erythritol in baked food

Sucrose and oil are the main raw materials for making baked goods, playing a crucial role in forming the unique organizational structure, taste, and flavor of baked goods. They are indispensable raw materials for producing high-quality baked goods. In particular, in the production of baked food, sugar can not only increase the sweetness, coloring and preservation, but also have a great impact on the rheology properties, process and product quality of dough. The proper addition of sugar is a very important condition to ensure the normal production process and good product quality. However, with the improvement of modern consumer consumption level and the enhancement of health awareness, this "high sugar, high fat, and high calorie" product can no longer meet the needs of consumers. The baking industry is also developing towards nutrition, health, functionality, and low calorie, and low energy, sugar free baking foods have emerged in this trend. However, the low energy or sugar free baked food produced by some manufacturers at present only partially reduces the use of oil and sugar, but it is not enough to reduce the use of oil and sugar only, which easily leads to poor sensory quality of the product and is difficult to be accepted by people with diabetes, obesity and other people. Therefore, substitutes such as dietary fiber, oligosaccharide, sugar alcohol and fat like products should be used to reduce product energy and meet the consumption needs of some consumers. At the same time, the functions of oil and sucrose should be simulated as much as possible to improve the acceptability of products.
The substitution of sucrose is currently mainly a combination of strong sweeteners and low sweetness filling sweeteners or fillers, such as oligosaccharide, sugar alcohols, etc. The substitution of fat is mainly achieved through carbohydrate based simulated fats. At present, low DE maltodextrin is a good choice, as it has the appearance and taste of cream, but its calories are much lower compared to oil.
To obtain high-quality functional or low calorie baking products, erythritol is a proven excellent raw material. It not only replaces sucrose from a physical and chemical perspective, but also brings health benefits. Baking products that use erythritol have better structural compactness and softness compared to products that also use sucrose as raw material, and have different oral solubility and subtle color differences. Erythritol used in baked goods is preferably in powder form or with fine particle size (<200 μ m) The crystals and small particles will bring a smooth and rounded taste to the product.